David Axelrod lauds Jimmy Fallon’s Polar Plunge

Chicagoan David Axelrod said Monday it might have been frigid when “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel plunged into Lake Michigan on Sunday, but their actions were “very warm.”

“We’re flirting with zero-degree temperatures and those guys jumped in the water and helped raise $1 million for Special Olympics, a wonderful program,” Axelrod said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on Monday. “I was really so impressed with both of them for their willingness to do that and rally people behind that cause. It was really — it was a very cold day but a very warm day as well.”

Emanuel was taking part in the plunge as part of a campaign to get Chicago kids reading, and he secured Fallon’s participation in a series of tweets they exchanged over a possible Emanuel appearance on “The Tonight Show.”

On Sunday night, Axelrod tweeted his thanks.

As the proud parent of a Special Olympian, I thank @jimmyfallon for taking the plunge in Chicago today, and supporting a great program,” Axelrod said on Twitter.